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EAP Policy Manual FFY24 Chapter 15 Energy Vendors Page 6 household’s account before applying other types of payments. If non-EAP credits exist on an account, the EAP payment should be applied first if possible. If the household account is active, EAP benefits must remain on the household account, unless the household discontinues as a customer or the Service Provider requests a refund. In each case, refunds must be made to the Energy Assistance Program. (See Refunds section below) Households may elect through their EAP application to have a portion of their Primary Heat benefit paid to their non-heating electric energy account. This option exists because non-heat electricity is most often crucial to operating a heating unit. The energy vendor is responsible for applying EAP payments correctly for heat and non-heat electric payments. If the energy vendor provides multiple utility services, including both heating and electric non-heating energy, and their billing system does not allow for separation of the two, they must notify their EAP Service Provider of their method to ensure payments are correctly applied. Disconnections should not occur as a result of an energy vendor failing to appropriately apply EAP payments. Name on Energy Accounts The name on the household energy vendor account should match the name of a household member listed on the EAP application. If the name on the household energy account is not a household member’s name, EAP expects the Service Provider to get assurance the grant is going to intended recipients at the intended address. To get assurance, Service Providers will follow this procedure and energy vendors must assist the Service Provider as needed: • Contact household and ask why the account is not in a household members’ name. • Ask the household to get a household name on account. If there are barriers, the Service Provider assists the household to remove these barriers. • If unable to get the account in a household member’s name, the Service Provider verifies the reason the household names do not match and ensures the account is for the address of the household (e.g., confirm with vendor or landlord). • If a match of the account address and the household address cannot be verified, the Service Provider will deny the household for insufficient information. • The Service Provider makes notes in eHEAT. Ownership of Assistance EAP funds always belong to the program. The EAP benefit is provided to the household to purchase energy. At the end of the program year, any unspent EAP benefits must remain on the household account for future energy costs. Households cannot request cash refunds. If a household discontinues as a customer, the energy vendor should follow refund policies to return any unused EAP funds to the program. Energy vendors should never use unclaimed property procedures for EAP funds.